Giles Street Musings Jacob Kamateros and Amal Varghese

In this episode, we are joined by teacher, polymath, economist (trained) and dear friend, Christopher Weinberg.

In the first part of the episode, Chris dissects the book Lucky: How Joe Biden Barely Won the Presidency, by Jonathan Allen & Amie Parnes. He covers the campaigns within the campaigns, polling and media coverage of the election.

In the second part of this episode, Jacob reflects on the book Let them Eat Tweets by Jacob Hacker and Paul Pierson. He tackles some tough questions around the fate of the American empire, inequality, entrenched political power(s) and polarisation.

In this episode, Amal and Jacob discuss the two books that have left a lasting impression on their thinking or their relationship to books, relationships and life.

Jacob discusses the book that inspired him to read more, to open up his imagination, none other than J.R.R Tolkien's Lord of the Rings series which was read to Jacob by his father at the very young age of seven or eight. This prompted a desire for Jacob to read a lot, in particular the genre of fantasy, for the next decade.

Amal discusses a book that has profoundly influenced how he views the world, validated his belief in optimism, and given him a toolkit to learn more. Amal chose The Beginning of Infinity by David Deutch, and specifically used a chapter, The Spark, to illustrate why humans are extra-ordinary animals in the scheme of the universe. Humans can create anything from anything, provided the laws of nature do not forbit it. To to moon!

In the Tyranny of Merit, Michael Sandel argues that the situation in the US that has led to much discontent can be traced to the state of inequality and the attitudes of elites towards their success. Sandel argues that there is a view amongst elites that success is down to their own hard work and attitude, and cannot be attributed to luck or structural systems. Inversely, unsuccessful people are responsible for their own circumstances. The book cuts across many disciplines.

In this episode, Jacob and Amal explore the arguments around moral philosophy, justice and inequality that Sandel uses to dissect and analyse attitudinal shifts in society.

The Giles street duo, Jacob Kamateros and Amal Varghese tackle such heady issues such as the civil rights movement, Martin Luther King Jnr's legacy and African-Americans' fight for racial equality in the United States.

The Giles street duo, Jacob Kamateros and Amal Varghese discuss their reading competition, what books they enjoyed in 2018 and what you can expect in successive podcasts!

The Giles street duo discuss their favourite books and podcasts over a few beers.